BWW Reviews: Chromolume PUTS IT TOGETHER

Putting It Together/music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim/created by Stephen Sondheim and Julia McKenzie/directed & choreographed by Cate Caplin/Chromolume Theatre at the Attic Theatre/through December 21

Ah, the art of making art! In an excellent adaptation of the 1999 Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Putting It Together, Chromolume Theatre steps up to bat with stellar direction from Cate Caplin and boasting a terrific cast through December 21 at their home the Attic Theatre in West LA.

Putting It Together is far more than a musical revue. Its thin plotline introduces five people who are caught up in the show business world of Los Angeles. There's an older married couple and a younger couple on the verge of engagement. In a simple setting. in which the older couple throw a typical Hollywood party, they extol the pain, anxiety and frustration of their relationships....but not through dialogue; it is completely sung, to the musical compositions of Stephen Sondheim, songs that come from most of his previous hit shows. Man 1, a producer (Kurt Andrew Hansen), to the disgust and heartbreak of his wife Woman 1 (Kristin Towers-Rowles), puts the make on a guest, a young model Woman 2 (Rachel Hirshee), whose fiance Man 2 (Chris Kerrigan) finds himself questioning his readiness to commit. How do you go for it in this treacherous town and still maintain integrity? Success can come at a high cost, ruining any chance for personal happiness. With time fleeting, the older couple want to look back with fondness and keep their early memories alive, as the younger couple desperately try to find theirs. There may be little plot but loads of depth for a musical montage! And... Sondheim and Julia McKenzie have cleverly structured the mostly familiar tunes to make sense within the characters' emotional worlds. In fact, they seem a perfect fit.

Caplin has staged generously and choreographed the numbers with expert detail and flourish. Not a moment is wasted. And the cast? Kristin Towers-Rowles, always up to an acting challenge makes the older woman totally her own. In 1999 Woman 1 was played in Los Angeles and New York by Carol Burnett, who has lived a lot longer than Miss Rowles. But Rowles' energy, wit and reactions are quick and deeply intense as she socks out an emotionally riveting roller coaster ride with "Could I Leave You?", "The Ladies Who Lunch", "Everyday a Little Death", as well as the incredibly fast-moving and utterly delightful "Getting Married Today". It's a knockout performance! Hansen as her husband plays it pretty confidant and straight-forward with great voice defining his moves on "Hello Little Girl", "The Road You Didn't Take" and "Good Thing Going". Hirshee is terrific as the up and comer with "Sooner or Later" and "More" simply sizzling. A winning performance! Kerrigan does his best, most conncected work with "Marry Me a Little". Mike Irizarry as Man 3, the waiter and narrator, shines comically, especially with the opening invocation to the audience and with his second act's electrically charged "Buddy's Blues".

This is a laudatory representation of Putting It Together with great direction and lovely singing from the ensemble of 5 under the fabulous musical supervision of Richard Berent. Go, savor and really listen to Sondheim's lyrics that have the power to enrich and transform you as well as entertain.

http://www.chromolume-theatre.com/pit.html

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Best Off-Broadway Musical - Top 3

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